The present invention relates to ammunition reloading presses which refill cartridge shells for reuse, particularly to an apparatus for use in such presses which alerts the operator of an improperly loaded cartridge shell.
Gun enthusiasts have long been using various types of manually operated reloading presses to get many uses from a single cartridge shell. The manual reloading process saves the gun enthusiasts the costs of buying new ammunition. Moreover, the process can be done using relatively inexpensive equipment at the operator's convenience. Frequently, operators reload cartridge shells at the same location where the gun firing is taking place.
The reloading process involves several principal operations. Those operations include (1) sizing, depriming and repriming; (2) belling or flaring the cartridge mouth; (3) dropping the powder into the cartridge shell; (4) seating the bullet onto the cartridge shell; and (5) crimping the cartridge about the bullet. Reloading presses which perform one operation at a time to a single cartridge shell are known as single stage reloaders. One such device is the Lee Reloader, manufactured by Lee Precision, Inc. of Hartford, Wisconsin. Those presses which perform several operations simultaneously to different cartridge shells are commonly referred to as progressive reloading presses. For example, two popular progressive reloading presses are the Hornady Pro 7, manufactured by the Hornady Manufacturing Co. of Grand Island, Neb., and the Dillon RL-450, manufactured by Dillon Precision Products, Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.
The progressive reloading presses have become increasingly popular in recent years primarily due to the increased speed at which they fully reload cartridges compared to the single stage presses. Unfortunately, the user has several operations over which he must monitor. Inevitably, the user fails to detect an intermittent malfunction of the powder measure as he gets distracted by other malfunctions on the reloading press. As a result, the possibility exists that a cartridge will get charged twice or not at all, both situations creating serious safety hazards. Empty cartridges result from either a jam in the powder measure or an early advance of the shell plate before the powder has been deposited. Such conditions create a squib load, which can leave a bullet in the barrel of the gun. If that misfire goes unnoticed, the next firing can rupture the barrel posing a serious threat to those around the firing activity. Overly filled cartridge shells occur frequently when the powder measure drops two loads of powder into the shell resulting in a potentially dangerous explosion. Thus, there exists the need for an apparatus which would immediately detect the presence of an improperly loaded cartridge during the reloading process so that the condition can be corrected before the shell completes the reloading process. That improper condition could be either the overfilling or underfilling of a cartridge shell with powder.
The prior art discloses two devices for detecting improperly loaded cartridge shells in automatic loading of new cartridge shells. The devices are the subjects of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,019,688 to Hunt and 4,127,054 to Gully.
The Hunt patent discloses the use of pressuresensitive paper. Pins enter the powder loaded cartridge and, after a press stroke, the other end of the pin makes a definite clear-cut impression in the paper indicating to the user that the cartridge has a sufficient amount of powder. An indefinite or partial impression in the paper indicates that the cartridge position under that impression was filled with too little powder. Nothing in the patent discloses how to detect an overly filled cartridge.
The invention disclosed in the patent to Gully uses magnetic probes to detect low or missing powder charges. When the probe drops too low, the magnetic probe repels a second magnet outwardly preventing the loading plate from being separated from the holding plate. At that time, the operator would know of a low or missing charge among the cartridges. No method is disclosed for detecting overly filled cartridges.
Thus, there remains the need for a simple sensing device which alerts the operator of an improperly powdercharged cartridge. Particularly, with the ever increasing popularity of the progressive reloading press, there is a need for an early detection system which would eliminate the possibility of a doubly charged or uncharged cartridge. Preferably, the device would immediately cease all reloading functions upon the presence of an improperly loaded cartridge whether the cartridge has too little or too much powder within the cartridge shell, so that the faulty condition can be corrected. Moreover, preferably the device could be used on existing presses.